Interaction of two-color solitary waves in a liquid crystal in the nonlocal regime

Abstract

The propagation and interaction of two-color vector solitary waves in a nematic liquid crystal in the nonlocal nonlinear response regime are investigated. Approximate modulation equations governing the evolution of the beams are derived based on a variational method. These modulation equations are then extended to include the effect of the diffractive radiation shed by the beams as they evolve. Agreement between the approximate solutions and full numerical solutions of the governing equations for the momentum deviation due to diffraction is excellent. Moreover, radiative losses are shown to play a far less significant role with respect to momentum deviation in comparison with the case for the local regime. © 2009 The American Physical Society.